Survive

Chapter 10

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

Shit! Shit! Shit and tits! We had to make a choice.

"We have to save her," Stan spoke "No one left behind."

"But she was a reason Cole died." I teared up.

"You're still holding onto that?" Stan questioned me as an eyebrow was raised.

"Risk your life then but I'm moving on." I cried.

Tracy rubbed my shoulder as I was losing control of my emotions. I'll never forget you, Cole!

"The hole she's hiding in is next to the door." Stan called out. He was right but was she really worth saving? Not in my eyes.

Everyone walked out of the door but Stan who stood there making a hard decision in his head.

Stan stepped out of the door when the light switched off and the door closed. Our eyes widened as we listened to Doris' screaming before it fell silent. She was gone.

After falling silent, I looked over at Stan. There was a tear slowly falling down his wrinkled face. He noticed my eyes and he turned away from us. We all looked over at him and wasn't sure why he was acting up. Is he still hungover?

"Are you okay, Stan?" I finally had the courage to ask.

He shook his head as he cried more. We all huddled around him and gave him a big hug.

"She... she... Doris is my granddaughter. My eldest granddaughter. We had a strange relationship, I know, but it's just because she hated it when I was drunk. We were actually really close otherwise and I promised her when we were together in the kitchen earlier," he paused as he looked down, tears falling onto the concrete floor "I promised I'd put her first, I'll protect her even if it means risking my own life. But... I didn't have enough time to save her and from your words, Anna, I felt forced to step out. Listening to her screams... it felt like my heart was ripped out then cut open to mess with."

We all teared up at his words. He's going through heartache.

"Why didn't you, or her, tell us you two were related?" Clover asked.

"Yeah, I would've been more understanding." I added.

"Doris didn't talk about family much with people and that was the way she was. I didn't judge her when everyone else did, I was right by her side through all the words that were thrown at her. After my wife passed, she decided to live with me as her parents weren't listening to her and were only hurting her... mentally and physically," he spoke "Doris does care about people but she sometimes doesn't think before acting or speaking. She can be demanding because of the wrong attention she got. I know Cole is dead because of her, Anna," he looked up at me "But please understand why she was like that. Family did her wrong her whole life and I couldn't change her." he cried.

I cried more, Tracy's hands on my shoulders to let me know she was there.

"I'm sorry, Stan. If we had known sooner, I wouldn't have blamed her or said what I said so bluntly to you." I said, my voice breaking as I continue to cry.

"I should've stepped up and told you all sooner. She finds it hard to voice out her past so she'd let me do it. But I was thinking about her and her fear of you all knowing than what needed to be told."

Tracy leaned over me as she wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks.

I held my arms out for Stan to hug me, Tracy moving away as I did. It took Stan a minute but he gave in and hugged me, crying on my shoulder. I rubbed his back to try and calm him down. Clover and Tracy had a hand on my shoulders as they stood there in silence.

Stan continued to talk on about his past, reminding us of when he mentioned his abusive childhood. He then went on to say that he's a retired soldier. He had to retire sooner than due to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) but he was also glad about having to retire as he could see his grandchildren more. Doris is now out of the question though. His tone of voice was broken but also calming when he told us everything. He seemed relieved.

He kept hold of me as we were cheering him on for being such a good leader, friend and grandfather. It inspired him to control his breathing.

It took Stan half an hour or so to calm down after talking about himself but eventually he came back to his senses and pulled away from me, as Clover and Tracy removed their hands from my shoulders. Stan wiped the last tear on his cheek away before forcing a smile on his face. I just smiled back.

To me, Doris was just an extra person but Stan gave her so much more meaning. I only miss Doris for Stan.

We were about to walk on when Clover stopped us, she had paper in her left hand and opened it up. We all turned to face her as she read it out.

"Survivors; the end is in sight. Though I must say my 'sincere' apologies to Stanley for killing off his granddaughter. If you escape, Stanley, I hope the grieving process isn't too overwhelming. For now though, save the tears. This is the last obstacle until you can escape this little game of mine. The last game requires no information as you'll soon figure out what you need to do. X"

Stan sighed deeply and loudly at the note. He turned his back on us and walked on. We quickly followed him.

We walked for a while, in silence, before drawing a stained sheet. The sheet covered a room. The room was lit red. The room was so big I felt like a toy from Toy Story. There were ramps everywhere to get up and down but we were on the 'ground floor'.

Suddenly a ringing noise brought me out of my thoughts and forced my hands to cover my ears. Everyone else did the same. The ringing was so loud and ear bleeding. Soon we saw a shadow appear on the wall on the 'highest floor' possible of this crazy room.

Is that X?

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ